la tabla rasa

Blank slates
We use this expression as an analogy for 'starting over' such as moving to a new town
Or a new job
Or a new lover
What we are missing is that the slate is always blank
We are not born to knowledge,
we are born of it
It is as we gain and assimilate new information and experiences that we become more human
Our humanity and our individuality stem from our ability to emotionally interpret and process our experiences
As well as our ability to intellectually critique, if you will, the world around us
many animals can 'learn', a matter of repetitious programming, but we are different in that we can UNDERSTAND the conceptualized ideas of existence
We are aware that we are gaining knowledge which was heretofore not present in our psyche/brain/soul/mind or what have you

We are sentient beings and as thus we have the capability of recognizing our own growth
So why are we not growing at a perceptible rate

before and after
9/9/10
There are those moments, brian speaks of them often, when you know that the rest of your life is  'before this moment/after this moment'
Nyc was one of those moments for me
Leaving richmond was one of those moments

Those moments permeate the fabric of who you are
There is a hollywood-esque quality to them, 
an incendiary nature that lights you from the inside 
and
 tells you that, where you are, 
right there, right then, 
is profound beyond the simple grace of existence,
 it is a designation, a reminder,
 a 'drop pin here' kind of moment 
that you will forever refer
 back to 
because of the people, 
the place, 
and the experiences that you had, 
there, in that 
moment, when all 
the world made sense
 on chelsea piers,
and we were young and knew
 only that we had our whole lives
 in
 front of us...